• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.209-217
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• 2021

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) plays an important role in accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment planning for patients with arterial disease. Contrast-enhanced (CE) MRA is fast and robust, offering hemodynamic information of arterial flow, but involves the risk of a side effect called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Various non-contrast-enhanced (NCE) MRA techniques have been developed by utilizing the fact that arterial blood is moving fast compared to background tissues. NCE MRA is completely free of any safety issues, but has different drawbacks for various approaches. This review article describes basic principles of CE and NCE MRA techniques with a focus on how to generate angiographic image contrast from a pulse sequence perspective. Advantages, pitfalls, and key applications are also discussed for each MRA method.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제15권5호
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• pp.575-584
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• 2021

본 논문의 목적은 복부 CT 검사를 시행하는 소아환자에게 체중 기반 조영제 프로토콜을 적용함으로써 고정 투여법보다 조영제를 감소시키면서 최적의 문맥기 화질을 달성하는 것이다. Discovery 750HD(General Electric medical systems, Milwaukee, USA)를 이용하였으며, 만 18세 미만의 소아 남자 85명과 여자 82명, 총 167명을 대상으로 연구하였다. 300 mgI/ml(Xenetix, Guerbet, France)의조영제를 몸무게 2배로 고정 주입한 그룹과 체중기반 프로토콜을 적용하면서 주입량을 10%씩 단계적으로 감소시키면서 생리식염수를 주입한 그룹을 구분하였으며, 스캔 지연 시간을 추가로 변화시키면서 복부 장기의 CT 감쇄계수와 SNR을 비교 평가하였다. 또한 조영 증강의 정도와 심장 주변의 빔 경화 인공물을 정성적으로 평가하였다. 체중기반 프로토콜을 적용하고 20%의 조영제를 감소한 그룹이 몸무게 2배로 고정 주입한 그룹과 조영 증강이 가장 유사하였으며, 그리고 20%의 지연시간을 가진 그룹이 가장 조영 증강 효과가 높았다. 조영제 주입 후 적절한 지연시간은 실질 장기의 조영 효과를 상승시켰으며, 생리식염수를 적용한 주입 프로토콜은 심장 주변의 인공물이 감소시켰다. 결론적으로 소아 복부 CT 검사 시, 체중 기반 프로토콜의 적용과 적절한 지연시간의 조절은 불필요한 조영제 사용을 억제하고 최적의 문맥기 영상의 특성화를 가능하게 한다.

• ETRI Journal
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• 제41권6호
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• pp.797-810
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• 2019

Image saliency detection is the basis of perceptual image processing, which is significant to subsequent image processing methods. Most saliency detection methods can detect only a single object with a high-contrast background, but they have no effect on the extraction of a salient object from images with complex low-contrast backgrounds. With the prior knowledge, this paper proposes a method for detecting salient objects by combining the boundary contrast map and the geodesics-like maps. This method can highlight the foreground uniformly and extract the salient objects efficiently in images with low-contrast backgrounds. The classical receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, which compares the salient map with the ground truth map, does not reflect the human perception. An ROC curve with distance (distance receiver operating characteristic, DROC) is proposed in this paper, which takes the ROC curve closer to the human subjective perception. Experiments on three benchmark datasets and three low-contrast image datasets, with four evaluation methods including DROC, show that on comparing the eight state-of-the-art approaches, the proposed approach performs well.

• 치과방사선
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.211-217
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• 1990

This study was undertaken to determine (1) the usefulness of chromium intensifier to improve the dignostic quality of light radiograph; (2) the effect of chromium intensifier on density, contrast; and (3) the effect of various chemical concentrations on density. The following results obtained: 1. CHROMIUM INTENSIFIER is useful for intensifying and improving the diagnostic quality of a light dental radiograph. 2. The degree of intensification can be controlled by varying bleaching time, repeating the processing, varying the proportions of the potassium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid solutions. 3. The image produced is black and permanent. 4. The intensifier increases density and contrast.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.122-128
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• 2010

Focused Ion Beam (FIB) has been used for site-specific TEM sample preparation and small scale fabrication. Moreover, analysis on the surface microstructure and phase distribution is possible by ion channeling contrast of FIB with high resolution. This paper describes FIB applications and deformed surface structure induced by sliding. The effect of FIB process on the surface damage was explored as well. The sliding experiments were conducted using high purity aluminum and OFHC(Oxygen-Free High Conductivity) copper. The counterpart material was steel. Pin-on-disk, Rotational Barrel Gas Gun and Explosively Driven Friction Tester were used for the sliding experiments in order to investigate the velocity effect on the microstructural change. From the FIB analysis, it is revealed that ion channeling contrast of FIB has better resolution than SEM and the tribolayer is composed of nanocrystalline structures. And the thickness of tribolayer was constant regardless of sliding velocities.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.135-148
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• 2005

This paper investigated the effect of audio and visual cues on Korean and Japanese EFL learners' perception of the lateral/retroflex contrast in English. In a perception experiment, the two English consonants /l/ and /r/ were embedded in initial and medial position in nonsense words in the context of the vowels /i, a, u/. Singletons and clusters were included in the speech material. Audio and video recordings were made using a total of 108 items. The items were presented to Korean and Japanese learners of English in three conditions: audio-alone (A), visual-alone (V) and audio-visual presentation (AV). The results showed that there was no evidence of AV benefit for the perception of the /l/-/r/ contrast for either Korean or Japanese learners of English. Korean listeners showed much better identification rates of the /l/-/r/ contrast than Japanese listeners when presented in audio or audio-visual conditions.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.676-682
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• 2021

Background: Red ginseng has been found to improve ocular perfusion and dry eye syndrome in glaucomatous eyes; however, its effects on visual function and vision-related quality of life have not been investigated. This study sought to evaluate the effects of red ginseng on visual function and vision-related quality of life in glaucoma patients using contrast sensitivity and a questionnaire. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to two groups in this prospective, randomized, double-blind study: in one group, red ginseng was taken first, followed by a placebo, and in the other, placebo was taken first, followed by red ginseng. We measured and compared changes in contrast sensitivity and vision-related quality of life between the two groups. Contrast sensitivity was measured using OPTEC® 6500P, and vision-related quality of life was evaluated using the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire. One-way and two-way repeated measure analyses of variance were used for the comparison. Relationships between respective changes in dry eye syndrome and contrast sensitivity were also analyzed. Results: Daytime contrast sensitivity and ocular pain improved after the administration of red ginseng. Nighttime contrast sensitivity was improved in early or moderate glaucoma. Improved contrast sensitivity was not associated with improvement in dry eye syndrome. Conclusion: Red ginseng could improve contrast sensitivity and ocular pain in patients with glaucoma. The mechanism underlying improvement in contrast sensitivity appears to be associated with enhanced retinal perfusion or retinal ganglion cell function, but not dry eye syndrome.

• 핵의학기술
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.23-29
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• 2024

Purpose: 99mTc-mebrofenin hepatobiliary scintigraphy (HBS) is an important and clinically useful diagnostic imaging study for detecting complications after liver transplantation. CT contrast agents due to their high atomic numbers, lead to a decrease in gamma ray count rates. This study investigated the impact of CT contrast agents on the uptake of 99mTc-mebrofenin in the liver. Materials and Methods: The quantitative HBS was performed on sixty-two liver transplantation patients (male:female=36:26), with a mean age of 59.4±6.4 years. Statistical comparison of hepatic uptake reduction ratio (HURR%) before and after the injection of CT contrast agents was performed using a paired t-test. Results: Hepatic uptake of the reduction ratio was 94.47±3.65% for the pre-CT contrast agents and 92.17±4.00% for the post-CT contrast agents. HURR% after CT contrast agent injection showed a statistically significant difference compared to before the injection (t=11.09, P<0.001). Conclusion: It will be necessary to pay attention when examining the HBS of patients with liver transplantation after the injection of CT contrast medium. It is advisable to schedule the examination on a different day to prevent residual contrast medium in the body from interfering with the quantitative evaluation of the nuclear medicine examination.

• 한국의학물리학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국의학물리학회 1999년도 Japanese Journal of Medical Physics
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• pp.278-281
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the scattered x-rays on the subject contrast and image sharpness for various tube voltages. For the purpose, we measured the scatter-to-primary ratio(SPR) for the tube voltages f 50 to 100kV and obtained the tube voltage dependence of the subject contrast of an aluminum plate in a polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA) phantom. Furthermore, the overall modulation transfer functions(MTFs), which consist of MTFs of a screen-film system and scatter FTMs, were obtained for tube voltages of 50 to 100 kV. The subject contrast decreased with the tube voltage due to that the SPR increased with the tube voltage and that the difference in effective linear attenuation coefficients between the object and its surroundings decreased with the tube voltage. The maximum frequency of the overall MTF decreased from about 2 mm$\^$-1/ to 1 mm$\^$-1/ with the tube voltage increasing from 50 to 100 kV.

• 비파괴검사학회지
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.10-17
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• 2014

A 3D model based on the finite element method (FEM) was built to simulate the infrared thermography (IRT) inspection process. Thermal contrast is an important parameter in IRT and was proven to be a function of defect parameters. Parametric studies were conducted on internal defects with different depths, thicknesses, and orientations. Thermal contrast evolution profiles with respect to the time of the defect and host material were obtained through numerical simulation. The thermal contrast decreased with defect depth and slightly increased with defect thickness. Different orientations of thin defects were detected with IRT, but doing so for thick defects was difficult. These thermal contrast variations with the defect depth, thickness, and orientation can help in optimizing the experimental process and interpretation of data from IRT.